Rudder construction for sailboats

ABSTRACT

A rudder construction for small boats, particularly sailboats, in which the rudder is mounted on its rotatable support frame for pivotal movement on a horizontal axis to prevent damage to the rudder in the event that it strikes an obstruction in the water. A detent means yieldably retains the rudder in its normal vertical position or a horizontal or intermediate position. The tiller may be manipulated to move the rudder to any of said positions.

United States Patent 1191 Hackett Aug. 14, 1973 RUDDER CONSTRUCTION FOR SAILBOATS [76] lnventor: Richard L. Hackett, Lincoln Pl.,

Petoskey, Mich. 49770 [22] Filed: July 6, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 159,802

52 US. Cl. ..114/162,ll4/l67 151 1m. (:1 B63h 25/06 581 Field otSearch 114/39, 127, 128,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,991,749 7/1961 Patterson 114/132 3,269,347 8/1966 Koenig 114/162 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 2,576 7/1874 Great Britain 114/167 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Barry L. Kelmachter Attorney-L. Gaylor l-lulbert et a1.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A rudder construction for small boats, particularly sailboats, in which the rudder is mounted on its rotatable support frame for pivotal movement on a horizontal axis to prevent damage to the rudder in the event that it strikes an obstruction in the water. A detent means yieldably retains the rudder in its normal vertical position or a horizontal or intermediate position. The tiller may be manipulated to move the rudder to any of said positions.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures RUDDER CONSTRUCTION FOR SAILBOATS Boats such as small sailboats which are frequently operated in shallow water may be damaged in the event that the rudder strikes an obstruction in the water. The present invention provides a rudder construction in which the rudder blade is pivoted on a horizontal axis on its support frame so that it will automatically spring upwardly in the event that an obstruction is encountered, thereby preventing damage to the rudder blade. Rudder constructions of this general type have been proposed heretofore as in U. S. Pat. No. 2,991,749, issued July ll, 1961, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,540, issued Apr. 16, 1963. The latter patent is subject to the disadvantage that with the construction shown therein the position of the rudder blade is not subject to control by the operator of the boat and the mechanism could become fouled so that the rudder would not return to its vertical position when the obstruction has been passed. In US. Pat. No. 2,991,749 upward pivoting of the rudder effects a corresponding movement of the tiller handle, which is undesirable.

In accordance with the present invention a yieldable detent means operably connected between the rudder blade and its support frame retains the blade in either its normal vertical position, or a horizontal position, or one or more intermediate positions. The detent means takes the form of an element movable with the rudder blade as the same is pivoted on a horizontal axis and cooperable with a fixed detent element on the rudder support frame. Upward pivoting of the rudder blade takes place without any corresponding movement of the tiller. However, the tiller may be manipulated to engage the movable detent element connected to the rudder blade to move the latter to any desired position.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating the rudder construction of the present invention and showing the rudder blade in its normal vertical position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the rudder blade in its horizontal position; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1.

A boat equipped with the rudder construction of the present invention includes a transom l and a rudder support frame 12 which is mounted for rotation on a vertical axis by means of hinge elements 14 which pivotally connect the frame 12 to the transom of the boat. The frame 12 may comprise a hollow, generally rectangular boxlike structure having side walls 16 between which the upper end 18 of the rudder blade 20 is pivotally mounted for movement in a vertical plane by a pin 22. A tiller 24 extends rearwardly through an opening 26 into the support frame 12 and is connected thereto by a pin 28 so that the tiller 24 may be pivoted on a horizontal axis relative to the frame 12. When the tiller 24 is swung in a horizontal plane its engagement with the side walls 16 of the frame 12 will effect swinging of the frame and the rudder 20 carried thereby on the hinge members 14.

Internally of the support frame 12 a pair of guide blocks 30 and 32 define an upwardly and rearwardly inclined slot 34 within which a detent bar 36 is slidably confined. The detent bar 36 has its lower end pivotally connected by a pin 38 to a lug 40 on the upper end of the rudder 20. The detent bar 36 is provided with a series of notches 42, 44 and 46 which are adapted to be engaged by a curved leaf spring 48 which is fixed to the inclined rear edge of the guide block 30. When the rudder is in its normal vertical position the detent spring 48 is engaged within the notch 46 in the detent bar 36, as shown in FIG. 1. If the rudder should strike an obstruction in the water, the rudder will swing upwardly about the pin 22 against the resistance of the spring 48 until the latter reengages within the notch 44 or the notch 42, depending upon the force with which the rudder strikes the obstruction. It will be noted that the upward pivotal movement of the rudder and the cone sponding sliding movement of the detent bar 36 within the slot 34 do not cause any corresponding movement of the tiller 24.

The tiller 24 is provided with a longitudinally extending bore within which a push rod 50 is slidably disposed. The rear end 52 of the rod 50 is adapted to be extended through the end of the tiller 24 into an opening 54 at the upper end of the detent bar 36. lnteriorly of the tiller 24 is an enlarged diameter portion 56 of the bore 58 in the tiller, and a spring 60 within the enlarged portion 56 reacts against a shoulder 62 on the rod 50 to urge the latter forwardly or out of engagement with the detent bar 36.

The rudder 20 is shown in FIG. 2 in its horizontal position in which spring 48 engages the notch'42. After the obstruction has been passed, the rudder may be returned to its normal vertical position by swinging the tiller upwardly about its pivot pin 28 and depressing the rod 50 against the force of spring 60 to cause the end 52 thereof to engage within the opening 54 in the detent bar 36. The tiller 24 is then swung downwardly towards its nonnal operating position to cause the detent bar to move upwardly through slot 34 until the spring 48 reengages in notch 46. When the rod 50 is then released, the rudder and the tiller will be in their normal operating positions.

It will be apparent that the push rod 50 may be engaged with the hole 54 in the detent bar 36 in any position of the latter within the slot 34 so that the helmsman can manually position the rudder in either its vertical, horizontal or intermediate position as may be warranted by sailing conditions.

In order to reduce friction and facilitate sliding movement of the detent bar 36 within the slot 34, the inclined surface of the guide block 32 may be provided with one or more projections 64 made of nylon or other friction-reducing material over which the detent bar 36 slides.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A rudder construction for boats comprising a rudder support member mounted on the transom of the boat for rotation on a vertical axis, a rudder carried by said support for rotation therewith, said rudder being pivoted on a horizontal axis on said support for movement between a normal vertical position and a generally horizontal position, detent means between said support and rudder for releasably holding the latter in either of said positions, said detent means including a movable member connected to said rudder, a tiller for rotating said support on said vertical axis, and an operating means associated withsaid tiller, said operating means normally being disposed out of engagement with said movable member whereby said rudder is movable from said vertical position to said horizontal position without causing movement of said tiller and being manually operable toengage said movable member to shift said rudder between said positions upon movement of said tiller.

2. Rudder construction according to claim 1 wherein said movable member is pivotally connected to said rudder and slidably disposed within said support, and a fixed detent element on said support and cooperable with said movable member to define said positions of said rudder.

3. Rudder construction according to claim 2 wherein said operating means comprises an axially movable rod mounted on said tiller and spring means urging said rod out of engagement with said movable member, said movable member having an opening therein adapted to receive one end of said rod and said tiller being movable in a vertical plane to align said rod with said opening in any position of said movable member 4. Rudder construction according to claim 2 wherein said rudder support member has an upwardly and rearwardly inclined slot therein and said movable member comprises an elongated bar slidably confined within said slot, said bar having a plurality of notches thereon, said fixed detent element being secured within said slot and engageable in said notches.

5. Rudder construction according to claim 4 wherein one of said notches on said bar defines a position of said rudder intermediate said vertical and horizontal positions. 

1. A rudder construction for boats comprising a rudder support member mounted on the transom of the boat for rotation on a vertical axis, a rudder carried by said support for rotation therewith, said rudder being pivoted on a horizontal axis on said support for movement between a normal vertical position and a generally horizontal position, detent means between said support and rudder for releasably holding the latter in either of said positions, said detent means including a movable member connected to said rudder, a tiller for rotating said support on said vertical axis, and an operating means associated with said tiller, said operating means normally being disposed out of engagement with said movable member whereby said rudder is movable from said vertical position to said horizontal position without causing movement of said tiller and being manually operable to engage said movable member to shift said rudder between said positions upon movement of said tiller.
 2. Rudder construction according to claim 1 wherein said movable member is pivotally connected to said rudder and slIdably disposed within said support, and a fixed detent element on said support and cooperable with said movable member to define said positions of said rudder.
 3. Rudder construction according to claim 2 wherein said operating means comprises an axially movable rod mounted on said tiller and spring means urging said rod out of engagement with said movable member, said movable member having an opening therein adapted to receive one end of said rod and said tiller being movable in a vertical plane to align said rod with said opening in any position of said movable member.
 4. Rudder construction according to claim 2 wherein said rudder support member has an upwardly and rearwardly inclined slot therein and said movable member comprises an elongated bar slidably confined within said slot, said bar having a plurality of notches thereon, said fixed detent element being secured within said slot and engageable in said notches.
 5. Rudder construction according to claim 4 wherein one of said notches on said bar defines a position of said rudder intermediate said vertical and horizontal positions. 